The truth of this statement was on display last night as we gathered again at the fellowship hall door to distribute food to our community.
Walking the first table out under the canopy we setup, I saw a vehicle pull up a little before our posted start time. Didn't matter. We handed the couple in the blue car a few bags of food and offered them a warm, sweaty, smile. Before long we had 3 trucks in line and the bags of food were flying out of the fellowship hall door and out into the community.
It was an amazing night!
But we could have lost track of something as the sweat poured down our faces and we carried food to the folks sitting in their air conditioned cars. . . We could have stopped listening.
Like I said, it was very hot. Add to the heat, that we needed to communicate from person to person as we coordinated our deliveries, and we could have been so preoccupied with our work that we missed what God was doing. Now before you guess what I think God was doing: pause.
Certainly God was at work as we cared for the community around us. God was also at work with us as we smiled and worked together as the Body of Christ. But God was also with the people in the cars--and that fact often gets overlooked when the Church serves its community.
Over and over we heard words of thanks and appreciation. I expected that. It was not necessary, but I heard it anyway. What was wonderfully-surprising was the amount of 'God bless you' that we heard. Could it have been lip service, sure. But I don' think that it was. It felt genuine; it felt sincere. And again, that blessing also was not sought. Yet it was given.
But I wonder if we are so busy trying to be productive as the Church that we miss the blessing that people are literally saying to us? Maybe today just listen a little more--a little closer. Perhaps there is a blessing being given to you. . .
♥️
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